‘When I was your age they would say we can become cops, or criminals. Today, what I’m saying to you is this: when you’re facing a loaded gun, what’s the difference?’ (Frank Costello)

Martin Scorsese’s crime thriller ‘The Departed’, winner of an Academy Award for Best Picture in 2006, is considered to be the director’s finest take on the mob theme since ‘Goodfellas’ (1990) (intermittently he also directed ‘Casino’ (1995) and ‘Gangs of New York’ (2002)). With many great actors involved in this movie, and with such a meticulously constructed script, this is no wonder. ‘The Departed’ is set in the south of Boston during the time when the police wages their war against the Irish-American criminal syndicate. The film starts off with young Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) befriending the untouchable lord of crime, Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). Years later, there emerge two cops: one – Colin Sullivan, only too ready to infiltrate the state police as an informer for Frank Costello, and another Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio), a guy who grew up in a criminal environment, who becomes a gang member working for Costello, while at the same time working as a undercover cop. When both the state police and the mob begin to suspect that there is an informer within their circle working for the other side, both Sullivan and Costigan must race against time to uncover the identity of another to save their lives.

‘Lift not the painted veil which those who liveCall Life: though unreal shapes be pictured there,And it but mimic all we would believe With colours idly spread…’ (Percy Bysshe Shelley)

**SPOILER ALERT**

‘The Painted Veil’ is a moving romantic drama set in China in 1925, and based on W. Somerset Maugham’s critically acclaimed novel of the same name. This is a truly timeless story about the values of love, marriage, fidelity, understanding, etc., while also exploring a clash of cultures, to name just a few dominant themes. Directed by John Curran, this film is, arguably, the triumph of a book-to-film adaptation.